Jason Stopyra, MD, was named 2016 North Carolina Doctor of the Year as part of the NC Doctors’ Day celebration that culminated on March 30, National Doctors’ Day. Dr. Stopyra is an emergency physician, and is Medical Director of Emergency Services in Randolph and Surry Counties and an Assistant Professor at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. He received the most online votes of the 10 NC Doctor of the Year Award finalists making him the winner.

The award comes with a $5,000 prize to be used to further a professional or community project of the winner’s choosing. Dr. Stopyra decided to split the check to benefit five families struggling with serious illness.

At an award reception at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center on March 30, Dr. Stopyra accepted the award surrounded by family, colleagues, friends and patients.

“I’m so honored and humbled,” he said. “This is an award that really means celebrating the doctor-patient relationship. I’m just the figurehead of that. There are many, many outstanding physicians in North Carolina.”

NC Doctors’ Day is the homegrown celebration of National Doctors’ Day spearheaded by the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS). Starting in February, patients, colleagues, family and friends nominated doctors who exemplify the best qualities of caring, compassion, clinical expertise and community involvement. This year over 300 doctors were nominated through the NC Doctors’ Day website (www.ncdoctorsday.org). In mid-March 10 finalists were selected to participate in an online voting contest. These extraordinary physicians represent various specialties and are from across North Carolina. See their profiles here.

The nomination for Dr. Stopyra caught the finalist selection committee’s attention, singing his praises as a clinician, mentor and a compassionate community leader:

“His compassion and care toward all patients is outstanding. He is a great emergency department physician and a great mentor to anyone interested in any part of the medical field,” one nominator wrote.

Approximately 11,400 online votes were cast during the voting phase with Dr. Stopyra receiving nearly 3,300.